GOP Convention Day 1 Review
August 29, 2012 6 Comments
Day one of the GOP Convention is in the books. Mitt Romney was nominated for President by the delegates, much to the chagrin of the loud and obnoxious Ron Paul supporters. We saw some terrific speeches, particularly by John Kasich, Ted Cruz and former Democrat Artur Davis. We saw some not so great speeches, such as those from Virginia Governor McDonnell and the legion of small businessmen who came to declare they built their business. The point is well taken but these people are so nervous and so unpolished that their point gets lost in their wide eyes and broken sentences.
Perhaps the best part is the media’s plans to show a split screen between the GOP Convention and Hurricane Issac hitting New Orleans failed. The media desperately wanted the GOP to cancel last night’s program, if not the entire Convention. When MSNBC wasn’t playing “negro spotting” with other Democrats on Twitter (yes, they’ve stooped that low on the left) they were demanding the cancellation of the Convention. NBC and CNN joined in the chorus. Thankfully Issac wasn’t nearly as strong as it could have been and it appears that the storm caused no more damage than one would expect for such a storm.
The two big speeches last night came from Ann Romney and Chris Christie. Mrs. Romney seems like a lovely lady. She was able to present her husband in a way that no one else can. She was clearly nervous last night and on occasion channeled her inner Oprah shouting at various delegates. But her point was never lost in her nervousness, if anything the nerves were endearing. Perhaps the best part of the speech is when she discussed their first apartment, a basement flat with no real table. Romney didn’t just wake up one morning a millionaire, he had to work for it. His first four years of marriage were spent in business and law school without much money. He then went on to build Bain from scratch. Mrs. Romney made all of this human after months of attacks on all of it from Obama.
Chris Christie brought all of the bombast you would expect him to bring. His speech was very good, culminating with a demand for a second American century. This is the sort of positive outlook for the country that Romney needs to channel Thursday night and throughout the rest of the election. This election is about choices, Obama doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism and he disregards the 20th century as being an American century. Romney obviously doesn’t but he needs to make the distinction loud and clear. Chris Christie was definitely loud and in this case he was quite clear. Over all a very good speech.
In terms of what helps Mitt Romney get re-elected, Chris Christie’s speech didn’t do that. Let’s face it, the Christie speech was red meat for Republicans. We all loved the speech but it didn’t win Romney any votes. Christie is over the top, his discussion of telling people the truth was borderline insulting (at least in delivery) and while people will like the 2nd American century line, this just isn’t the sort of character who will win Romney votes and an election. We all knew that going in though didn’t we? The party has to have some rah rah guys who excite the base, the party still has to get us out to the polls.
Mrs. Romney on the other hand was a star, she won votes for her husband last night. There are going to be women voters out there who absolutely love her telling of the first few years of her marriage. Ann Romney personalized her husband, something he desperately needed. She did for Mitt what Laura Bush did for George W in 2000 and it may very well propel Mitt to the White House. Despite the Democrats best war on women efforts, the women voter gap is shrinking and it will shrink further after last night. Over all a very good night for Romney and the Republicans.
UPDATE: MSNBC apparently was playing “negro spotting” with Democrats on Twitter. Every time a minority spoke, MSNBC cut away. This sort of political racism is disgusting.
About Steven
My husband said the same thing about Ann Romney. He said she was the best of the convention last night.
She was by far and away the best speaker last night.
I agree. Mrs. Romney let the people know hat Mitt Romney is just an average Joe deep down inside. Did you know that Mitt Romney was born in the USA on March 12, 1947, in Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Virginia and several other swing states. He emerged, hair first, believing in America, and especially its national parks. He was given the name Mitt, after the Roman god of mutual funds, and launched into the world with the lofty expectation that he would someday become the Arrow shirt man.
Romney was a precocious and gifted child. He uttered his first words (“I like to fire people”) at age 14 months, made his first gaffe at 15 months and purchased his first nursery school at 24 months. The school, highly leveraged, went under, but Romney made 24 million Jujubes on the deal.
Mitt grew up in a modest family. His father had an auto body shop called the American Motors Corporation, and his mother owned a small piece of land, Brazil. He had several boyhood friends, many of whom owned Nascar franchises, and excelled at school, where his fourth-grade project, “Inspiring Actuaries I Have Known,” was widely admired.
The Romneys had a special family tradition. The most cherished member got to spend road trips on the roof of the car. Mitt spent many happy hours up there, applying face lotion to combat windburn.
The teenage years were more turbulent. He was sent to a private school, where he was saddened to find there are people in America who summer where they winter. He developed a lifelong concern for the second homeless, and organized bake sales with proceeds going to the moderately rich.
Some people say he retreated into himself during these years. He had a pet rock, which ran away from home because it was starved of affection. He bought a mood ring, but it remained permanently transparent. His ability to turn wine into water detracted from his popularity at parties.
There was, frankly, a period of wandering. After hearing Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” Romney decided to leave Mormonism and become Amish. He left the Amish faith because of its ban on hair product, and bounced around before settling back in college. There, he majored in music, rendering Mozart’s entire oeuvre in PowerPoint.
His love affair with Ann Davies, the most impressive part of his life, restored his equilibrium. Always respectful, Mitt and Ann decided to elope with their parents. They went on a trip to Israel, where they tried and failed to introduce the concept of reticence. Romney also went on a mission to France. He spent two years knocking on doors, failing to win a single convert. This was a feat he would replicate during his 2008 presidential bid.
After his mission, he attended Harvard, studying business, law, classics and philosophy, though intellectually his first love was always tax avoidance. After Harvard, he took his jawline to Bain Consulting, a firm with very smart people with excessive personal hygiene. While at Bain, he helped rescue many outstanding companies, like Pan Am, Eastern Airlines, Atari and DeLorean.
Romney was extremely detail oriented in his business life. He once canceled a corporate retreat at which Abba had been hired to play, saying he found the band’s music “too angry.”
Romney is also a passionately devoted family man. After streamlining his wife’s pregnancies down to six months each, Mitt helped Ann raise five perfect sons — Bip, Chip, Rip, Skip and Dip — who married identically tanned wives. Some have said that Romney’s lifestyle is overly privileged, pointing to the fact that he has an elevator for his cars in the garage of his San Diego home. This is not entirely fair. Romney owns many homes without garage elevators and the cars have to take the stairs.
After a successful stint at Bain, Romney was lured away to run the Winter Olympics, the second most Caucasian institution on earth, after the G.O.P. He then decided to run for governor of Massachusetts. His campaign slogan, “Vote Romney: More Impressive Than You’ll Ever Be,” was not a hit, but Romney won the race anyway on an environmental platform, promising to make the state safe for steeplechase.
After his governorship, Romney suffered through a midlife crisis, during which he became a social conservative. This prepared the way for his presidential run. He barely won the 2012 Republican primaries after a grueling nine-month campaign, running unopposed. At the convention, where his Secret Service nickname is Mannequin, Romney will talk about his real-life record: successful business leader, superb family man, effective governor, devoted community leader and prudent decision-maker.
What a lovely bit of satire.
I just finished watching Christie’s speech and although I enjoyed it, I still believe Ann Romney stole the show last night. She very well could have gained her husband more than a few votes.
As for Chris Christie, you are right. His speech was aimed more at Republicans than the rest of the country. However, that could very well be what Romney needs. If someone like Christie can fire up the base, it will help tremendously to boost the enthusiasm level for Romney. That is never a bad thing.
In my opinion, Ann Romney should have been the keynote with Christie the lead in for her. But what are you going to do about it.